Machine for making indentures.



D. LEVINGER.

MACHINE FOR MAKING INDENTURES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. I916.

Patented. Apr. 9, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

$202921 qr Ddfld Lem 71 D. LEVINGER MACHINE FOR MAKING INDENTURES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15.1916.

. 1741/14 Lefl'nyer Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

Urns sears DAVID LEVINGER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR MAKING- INDENTURES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

Application filed July 15, 1916. Serial No. 109,506.

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known t at 1, DAVID LEVINGER, a citizen of the United States," residing at 2501 North Central Park avenue, Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Indentures, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improved machine for making indentures, and more particularly to a machine attachment for making indentures or nurls on the surface of circular articles.

One of the objects of this invention resides in an automatic feeding means whereby the articles or blanks which are to receive the indenture or nurl are automatically fed from a suitable storing means to a revoluble carrier which feeds the articles or blanks to the indenturing or nurling dies.

A further object of the invention resides in improved means for materially increasing the speed and efiiciency at which indentures or nurls can be applied to circular blanks.

An additional object of the invention resides in means for reducing the speed of the blank-feeding means when the blank which is to receive the indenture or nurl-is rolled between the dies.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novei combination of parts hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vlew in front elevation of the complete machine with the hopper removed;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, and illustrates the automatic feeding mechanism; f

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the rotating elements of the machine and illustrates the means used to connect the rotatable carrying means to the rotatable indenturing dies;

Fig. 4: is a fragment of the section illustrated in Fig. 3, and illustrates the method of adjusting the rotatable indenturing die, and

Fig. 5 is an illustration of a finished article showing a type of nurl which may be applied to articles by the improved machine herein illustrated and described.

This invention may beadapted for operation wlth any type of machine equipped wlth a rotatable spindle. in the preferred embodiment of the invention herein illustrated and described it has been adapted for operation with a lathe or other similar machine having a bed plate, on which the base of the indenturing attachment may be mounted and on which its parts can be easily moved for any required adjustment. The indenturing apparatus herein illustrated and described is designed for nurling the ends of metallic cylinders, but it will be quite evident that the invention is not limited to this specific embodiment, but may be used for nurling the entire surface of the blank and may be used for making indentures of all kinds, such as numbers, letters, ornaments, trademarks, etc.

As illustrated in the drawings, the machine consists of two parts, one of which is rotatable and which may be mounted between the rotation centers of a lathe or other similar machine, and the other a stationary part which is designed for suitable mounting on the bed plate of the lathe.

The rotatable part of the machine consists of two die holders 8 and 9 to which are secured the indenturing or nurling dies 10 and 11 respectively. The die holders are adjustably mounted on a spindle 12-, which is fitted with a key-way 13 that serves to securely attach the die holders to the spindle. The spindle is designed for mounting between the centers of a lathe, the stationary bearing 14 being forced into the taper hole of a tail-stock spindle, whereas the other end of the spindle is attached to the rotating spindle mounted in the head stock of the lathe. The relative positions of the die holders on the spindle are determined by end spacing sleeves 16 and 17 and the intermediate spacing sleeve 18 located between the die holders. These spacing sleeves and the die holders may be held in position on the spindle 12 by any suitable'means, such as locking nuts, the locking nut 19 for the tail stock end of the spindle being illustrated in Fig. 1.

Loosely fitted on the sleeve 18 are the disks 24 and 25. These disks have a plurality of grooves in their outer circumference,

and the disks are so mounted on the sleeve 18 that the grooves of the two disks are in alinement. The disks are separated by the bushings 26 and 27 which hold the springs 28 and 29 respectively. The bushings 26 and 27, as shown in Fig. 3, are held in place by being embedded for a short distance in the inner faces of the disks 24 and 25. These bushings are loosely fitted in thed1sk 25, whereas the right ends thereof are screw threaded into the disk 24 for the purpose of convenience in assembly. The spiral springs 28 and 29 are compressed when the disks 24 and 25 are mounted in place; hence these springs tend to spread the disks apart. At-

tached to the outer surface of each disk 24 and 25 are the bronze friction washers 32 and 33 respectively. As a result of this construction, the spiral springs 28 and 29 are in compression when the elements of the rotatable part of the machine-are assembled, and consequently the washers 32 and 33 are held in sliding frictional engagement with the inner surface of the nurling dies 10 and 11 respectively. The grooves in the disks 24 and 25, as shown in Fig. 2, serve to receive the blank which is to be nurled when the grooves are in alinement with the chute of the feeding mechanism.

The stationary element of the machine consists of a two-part key-way slotted base 34 and 35. Extending upwardly from each base and integral therewith are the stationary die holders 36 and 37 which have curved inner surfaces that conform to the outer circular surfaces of the dies 10 and 11.

The stationary dies 40 and 41 are secured to these die holders and have curved cutting surfaces which also conform to the outer surfaces of the rotatable dies 10 and 11. The

- stationary dies are adjustably mounted on the die holders, and this adjustment may be accomplished by any of the well-known methods. In the preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in Fig. 2, the die is secured to the die holder by means of a key and key slot indicated at 42. The adjustable movement of the die is governed by the set-screw 43, and the die is held in place on the holder, after it has been satisfactorily adjusted, by the holding screws 44, 45,

and 46. The supporting arms 47 and 48 of the feeding chute or blank guiding means are rigidly secured to the two parts of the base 34 and 35 respectively. The spindle 12 is loosely fitted in suitable holes provided in I the arms 47 and 48, and the relative position of these arms on the spindle 12 is determined by the spacing sleeves 16, 17, and 18 and the rotatable die holders 8 and 9. The arms 47 and48 are bent inwardly at an angle of approximately 90 degrees and are given a slight rearward iuclination at a height substantially equal to the upper surface of the rotatable die holders 9 and 10, and this direction of the bars is maintained for a short distance, when they are again bent at an angle of substantially 90 degrees. The arms 49 and 50 projecting beyond the second rightangle bend constitute the side walls of the blank feeding device or chute. The side walls 49 and 50 of the feedin chute are inclined at an angle of approxlmately 45 degrees from the horizontal. The lower edge of the inner surface of each wall of the blank feeding'device is fitted with a bracket 52, on which the blanks to be fed to the nurling dies are rolled, and the upper edge of the inner face of each wall is fitted with an adjustable bracket 53 which serves to hold the blanks in place as they roll down the chute.

' Due to the inclination which is given to the chute or blank-feeding means, the blanks to be nurled or indentured roll down the chute toward the rotatable nurling dies and the blank-carrying mechanism. A dog 60 is pivotally mounted on the lower edge of each wall of the chute. These dogs are springpressed and serve to retain the blank, which is to be nurled, in the grooves formed in the disks 24 and 25 as they carry the blank in these grooves from the chute to a position between the rotatable and stationa nurling dies. The stationary elements 0 the machine may be securely clamped to the bed plate of the lathe by any suitable means attached to the posts 55 and 56, which posts are rigidly secured to'the bases 34 and 35 respectively. v

The first step in the operation of nurling blanks consists in'properly assembling the machine. Thus the length of the blank to be nurled determinesthe length of the spacing sleeves 16, 17, and 18, and when these sleeves, suited to the length of the blank to be nurled, have been selected, the various parts of the machine are assembled on the spindle 12 from the head-stock end. In the assembly operation the sleeve 17 is'slipped on the spindle 12 followed by the arm 47 the die holder 8, and the spacing sleeve 18. The carrier disks 24 and 25,. separated by the bushings 26 and 27 of the proper length and containing spiral springs of a length to give the desired compression, are neXt slipped into place over the bushing 18, after which the die holder 9, the arm 48, and the spacin sleeve 16 are placed in position. The a ove enumerated parts placed on the spindle 12 are then locked in position by the locking nut 19. When the parts on the spindle 12 have been thus assembled, the spindle is properly centered between the head and tail-stock spindles of the lathe, and the base plates. 34 and 35 are securely fastened to the bed of the lathe. ready for operation.

To start the machine, a number of blanks may be placed in the storing receptacle 58,

The machine is then from which they. are gravitationally fed to the guiding chute between the brackets 52 and 53; or. the operator may feed these blanks directly to the guiding chute. When the blanks have been fed into the chute and the spindle 12 is revolved, the carrier disks 24 and 25 are revolved with the die holders 8 and 9 and the nurling dies l0 and 11, due to the frictional contact betweenthe bronze washers 32 and 33 and the, inner surface of the nurling dies 10 and 11. As the carrier is revolved, a set of grooves in the outer circumference of the disks 24 and 25 come into alinement, one at a time, with the chute of the blank feeding or blank guiding means. When the first pair of these grooves is revolved into alinement with the chute, the blank 62, which occupies the lowest position in the chute, drops into these grooves, and the blank will then rest on the cutting surface of the iotatable nurling dies .10 and 11. The blank which has been dropped into the grooves in the disks 24 and 25 is then revolved with the carrier and rotatable nurling die, at an angular speed equal to the speed of the nurling die, to a position between the rotatable nurling dies 10 and 11 and the stationary nurling dies 40 and 41. When the blank is thus fed between the stationary and rotatable nurling Y dies it is caught between these two pairs of dies and commences to roll between them, thereby causing the desired nurl or indenture on the circular surface of the blank.

It will be evident, however, in order that the blank may be rolled between the pairs of stationary and rotatable dies, that the angular speed of the carrier will have to be reduced to the speed of the blank which is being nurled, which is substantially onehalf the angular speed of the rotatable nurling die. This reduction in speed occurs when the blank is gripped between the pairs of nurling dies, after which it is advanced solely by the rolling action of the part be tween the dies, and since the blank is rotated in a reverse direction to that of the rotatable die its angular speed in the direction of the movement of said die is reduced by the angular speed developed by the blank, dueto said rolling action. For this reason, when the blank is being rolled between the stationary and rotatable dies,

- slippage occurs between the bronze plates 32 and 33 and the inner surface of the rotatable dies 10 and 11. lVhenever this slippage takes place, that is, when a blank is being rolled between the dies, the speed ofthe carrier is controlled by the speed at which the blank is rolled through the dies. Then the blank has been rolled between the dies and emerges from the lower end of the stationary dies 40 and 41, it is discharged to the inclined surfaces on the bases 34 and 35, down which the blank may roll and these grooves can be either increased or decreased according to'the speed at which the lllllllllg operation is to be performed.

It Wlll also be evident that when a large number of'blanks are stored in the storing receptacle 58 the operation of the machine is entirely automatic. Thus the blanks are fed from the hopper 58 by way of the guiding chute to the rotatable die and carrier; and by means of the carrier to a position between the rotatable and stationary dies, between which the blank is rolled for the desired indenture or nurl and after which it is discharged by way of the inclined surfaces on the bases 34 and 35 to any suitable receiving means.

As illustrated in the drawings, the blanks are given a narrow indenture or nurl a short distance from each end. Obviously the po-. sition of this nurl on the blank depends upon the relative location of the nurling dies 10 and 11 with respect to the die hold'ersS and 9 respectively, and in order to regulate the location of the nurl, the dies are adjustably mounted on the die holder. As shown in the die holder 9 by means of the spacing disks 64. Consequently, as illustrated in this figure, the nurl on the blank will be located a distance from the end of the blank equal to the width of the spacing disks 64. Naturally a similar spacing will have to be inserted between the stationary die holders 36 and 37 and the stationary dies 40and 41, so that'the rotatable and stationary dies no will be in proper alinement. By means of this die adjustment the nurl or indenture can be readily located at any desired position onthe blank.

Obviously this invention is not limited to the specific embodiment herein shown and described, but is capable of many variations and applications without departing from its spirit and scope as pointed out in the appended claims.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a rotatable indenturing die, and automatic means for guiding articles to be indentured to said die, of a 125 stationary indenturing die, a revolving carrier which delivers the articles delivered to Y said rotatable die to a position between said and rolled between said stationary and retatable dies.

2. In a device of the character described, the Combination with a pair of rotatable indenturing'dies, of a pair of stationary indenturing dies, means an guiding articles to said rotatable indenturingdies, revoluble means for-receiving said articles from said guiding means one at a time at regular in- 110 tervals and carrying them to said stationary indenturing dies, and means whereby the article is gripped and rolled between said pairsof stationary and rotatable dies.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with stationary and rotatable indenturing dies, and means for storing articles to be fed to said dies, of a pair of revolving disks which carry the articles to a position between said dies, and means for feeding articles from said storing means to said carrying means.

4. In a deviceof the character described, the combination with a rotatable spindle, of a pair of nurling dies mounted thereon, means for automatically feeding articles to said dies, a pair of. stationary nurling dies, a rotatable carrying means for 'guiding the articles delivered to said rotatable dies to a position between said stationary dies and said rotatable dies, and means for thereupon automatically rolling the articles between said stationary and revoluble dies.

' 5. In a device of thecharacter described,

the combination with a pair of adjustably mounted stationary nurling dies, of a rotatable spindle, a pair of adjustable circular nurling dies mounted thereon, an adjustable rotatable carrying means for feeding articles directly to said dies, and means for automatically rolling the articles between said dies.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a two-part adjustable mounting base, a stationary nurling die, an automatic guiding means mounted on each of said parts, a rotatable spindle, a pair of circular nurling dies adjustably mounted on said spindle, a rotatable carrying means for guiding the articles to be nurled from said first-mentioned guiding means to a position between said stationary and rotatable nurling dies, and means for thereupon rolling the articles between said dies.

7, In a device for rolling indentures on articles, the combination with an automatic feeding means, of a stationary indenturing die, a revoluble indenturing die, an automatic article-carrying means yieldingly controlled by said revoluble die for delivering the article between said stationary and revoluble dies, and means for rolling the article between said dies independently of said carrying means.

8. A device for rolling indentures on ar- 65 ticles, comprising a two-part adjustable base lib the articles between said dies, thereby reducing the angular speed of said circular aaaaeae plate, an article-feeding means secured to the parts of said base plate and adjustable with said plate to receive articles varying in length, a stationary indenturing die secured to each part of said base plate,'a rotatable 7o ticles, comprising a two-part adjustable base so i plate, an article-feeding means secured to the parts of said base plate and adjustable with said plate to receive articles varying in length, a stationary indenturing die secured to each part of said base plate, a rotatable spindle, circular indenturing dies mounted on said. spindle and adjustable thereon for'alinement with said stationary dies, a pair of circular plates yieldingly connected to said circular dies and equipped to with grooves in their outer edges to receive the articles from said feeding means and carry them to a position between said stationary and circular dies, and means to roll plates.

10. A device of the character described, 5 comprising a mounting means, an automatic feeding means, a stationary indenturing die, a rotatable indenturing die, means to carry the articles from the feeding means to a position between said stationary and rotatable dies, and means to reduce the angular speed of said carrying means and roll the articles between said dies. 7

11. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a feeding means consisting of two parallel plates having a passage therebetween, of means for laterally adjusting said plates to receive articles that vary in length, a rotatable spindle,

a pair of indenturing diesadjus'tably mounted on said spindle, a pair of stationary indenturing dies, a pair of circular carrying plates, and means to adjust said dies and circular plates to conform to the adjustment of said feeding means.

12. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a feeding means consisting of two parallel plates having a passage therebetween, of means for laterally adjusting said plates to receive articles that vary in length, a rotatable spindle a pair of circular indenturing dies mounted on said spindle, a pair of-stationary inden-1 turing dies, a pair of circular plates adjustably mounted on said spindle to carry articles from said feeding means to a position between said stat1onary and c1rcular dies, 130

and means for adjusting said dies to simultaneously apply a nurled surface on each end of said articles.

13. In a device of the character described, the combination with a feeding means, of a rotatable spindle, a pair of circular indenturing dies mounted thereon, a pair of carrying plates mounted on said spindle, a pair of stationary indenturing dies, and means to adjust said feeding means, said dies, and said plates to supply articles that Vary in length to said dies and simultaneously apply a nurled surface to the ends of said articles.

14. A device of the character described, comprising a mounting means, an automatic feeding means, a pair of stationary indenturing dies, a pair of rotatable indenturing dies, a pair of laterally adjustable plates to carry articles from the feeding means to a position between said stationary and rotatable dies, and means for maintaining frictional contact between said plates and said rotatable dies which will allow slippage between said plates and dies when the article is rolled between said stationary and rotatable dies.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this July 5, 1916.

DAVID LEVINGER. 

